The area rises from low-lying marshland along the Lea to over 90 feet at Whipps Cross on the southern edge of Epping Forest. Leyton is partially bisected by the A12 (M11 link road), with most of the district lying on the north-west side of this busy traffic artery through east London.

The High Road Leyton bridge crossing the A12 offers some of the best views in London of the Olympic Park, which also borders the district, as well as of skyscrapers further west. It borders Walthamstow along Lea Bridge Road and areas of the London Borough of Hackney via the River Lea.

Paleolithic implements and fossil bones show that early man hunted in Leyton. A Roman cemetery and the foundations of a Roman villa have been found here. From Anglo-Saxon times, Leyton has been part of the County of Essex. The name means "settlement (tun) on the River Lea" and was also known until 1921 as "Low Leyton".[1] In the Domesday Book, the name is rendered as Leintun. at which time the population was 43.

Leyton Parish Church

The ancient parish church of St Mary the Virgin was largely rebuilt in the 17th Century.[2] The parish of Leyton also included Leytonstone. The old civil parish was formed into an Urban District within Essex in 1894 and it gained the status of Municipal Borough in 1926. In 1965, the Municipal Borough of Leyton was abolished and was combined with that of Walthamstow and Chingford to form the London Borough of Waltham Forest, within the new county of Greater London.[3] Although Leyton did not become officially part of London until 1965, the borough formed part of London's built-up area and had been part of the London postal district since its inception in 1856 and the Metropolitan Police District since 1839.

Gates to London Master Bakers' Benevolent Institution almshouses

The main route through the town is the High Road, which forms part of the ancient route to Waltham Abbey. At the top end of the High Road is a crossroads with Lea Bridge Road and Hoe Street. This junction and the surrounding district is known as Bakers Arms, named after the public house which has now closed down. The pub was named in honour of the almshouses on Lea Bridge Road built in 1857 by the London Master Bakers' Benevolent Institution.

During the 17th and 18th centuries, Leyton was a "pretty retiring place from London" for wealthy merchants and bankers; in 1766 there were said to be 50 or 60 gentlemen with houses in the parish. Leyton's development from an agricultural community to an industrial and residential suburb was given impetus by the arrival of the railway.[1] First at Lea Bridge Station in 1840, then at Low Leyton in 1856 (now Leyton Underground).[4] Finally Leyton Midland Road opened in 1894, after an elevated line had been built on brick arches across the already developed streets.[5] However, not all the green spaces were lost, 200 acres of Epping Forest within Leyton's borders were preserved by the Epping Forest Act 1878. In 1897 Leyton Urban District Council purchased the land for a formal park close to the town hall; it opened in 1903 as Coronation Gardens, named after the coronation of King Edward VII.[6] In 1905, the "Lammas land", common pasture land on Leyton Marshes, was purchased by the council for use as a recreation ground.[4]

In World War I, about 1,300 houses were damaged by Zeppelin raids.[1] By the 1920s, it had become a built-up and thriving urban industrial area known for manufacturing neckties and for its Thermos factory. During the Blitz of World War II, Leyton suffered as a target because of its proximity to the London Docks and Temple Mills rail yard. The yard (named after an ancient mill owned by the Knights Templar[2]) is now reduced in size as part of it has become a retail park 'Leyton Mills', whilst the rest has been renovated to serve as a depot for high speed trains.

After World War Two, Leyton suffered from large-scale industrial decline in the second half of the 20th century.[7] But, like much of east London, Leyton, which also borders the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, has benefited from significant regeneration projects over the past decade. Parks have been spruced up, some new small parks and gardens created and several tower blocks have been demolished.The millennium was marked with a clock tower in the Lea Bridge Rd area and a major piece of street art at Baker's Arms. And, most recently, in the build-up to the Olympics, Waltham Forest Borough Council spent £475,000[8] restoring 41 shopfronts on the part of Leyton High Road closest to the 2012 London Olympic Games site. The Olympics authority also funded the smartening up of pavements and street furniture.

Although the area is still viewed as a traditional working class district, it is said to be becoming increasingly cosmopolitan. Several web threads and newspaper articles have suggested that large numbers of young professionals and other university-educated people are moving into Leyton and elsewhere in Waltham Forest because they cannot afford the higher house prices and rents in neighbouring Hackney and areas such as Bethnal Green and Bow in the nearby London Borough of Tower Hamlets. Artists are understood to be particularly drawn by the lower cost of studio space.[10] Already, more than half the population is under the age of 30, according to the most recent census. It is also highly multi-cultural, with just 34% of the population recorded as White British, the lowest in Waltham Forest.

There are two main shopping areas in the district, located at opposite ends of the High Road. A new retail park is to be found at Leyton Mills. This has a large Asda store, a B&Q store and a selection of furniture and electrical stores.[11] At the north end of the town, Baker's Arms has a more traditional selection of shops lining Lea Bridge Road and the High Road, including a branch of Tesco.

There are numerous pubs and a few bars situated on the High Road. These include the King William IV pub, which is the home of Brodie's Brewery, a maker of craft beers and ales, and the recently opened Leyton Technical pub. There are also several other drinking establishments on Lea Bridge Road. The newly built local police station is at Boreham Close near Leyton Midland Road station. It moved from Francis Road in December 2012.

Restaurants reflect the diversity of Leyton's population, with cuisines on offer including Turkish, Portuguese, Polish, Indian, Mauritian, Somali and Cypriot. There are also several fast-food takeaway shops, cafes and bakeries.

Leyton Library

Leyton lies on the eastern side of the Hackney Marshes, one of the largest areas of open land in London. However, access is inhibited by the Eurostar depot and the Eton Manor Olympic transport hub, which since the 2012 Games has been reconverted into grassland but is yet to reopen despite promises that it would be reinstated as East Marsh football pitches in autumn 2013. A bridge to the marshes crosses the Orient Way road and railway tracks from Leyton Jubilee Park, which was created as a merger of two previously separate playing fields to mark the 60th anniversary of the reign of Queen Elizabeth II.

A major focal point in the centre of Leyton is Coronation Gardens, a park built in 1902 to commemorate the coronation that year of King Edward VII. It includes a fountain, landscaped gardens, a bandstand and a children's maze,

On the High Road, near Bakers Arms, there is also a municipal gym and Leyton Leisure Centre swimming pool, which was formerly called the Leyton Leisure Lagoon and was reopened in October 2013 following a period of renovation.

There are two public libraries in Leyton. One on the High Road, nextdoor to the former Town Hall, and the other on Lea Bridge Road which has been recently modernised to offer extensive computer facilities.

The London Borough of Waltham Forest also operates Brooks Farm, a city farm in Skelton Lane Park, near Leyton Midland Road station. It is free to visitors and the livestock include pigs, sheep, cows, horses and llamas.

Traditional Victorian terraces, which make up the majority of homes in Leyton

Large scale redevelopment and inner city regeneration has been underway in Leyton for many years, as is also the case in the neighbouring areas of Hackney, Bow, Clapton and Stratford.

Leyton's skyline is comparatively low-rise compared to other districts of east London. However, high-rise estates did once dominate the horizon. But the towers were unpopular with many residents and considered to be poorly constructed.

The Oliver Close Estate and the Cathall Road estate were the first to be completely redeveloped by demolition and rebuilding with the help of the multi-million pound Waltham Forest Housing Action Trust scheme during the early 2000s. The redevelopment of the problematic Avenue Road Estate followed. Demolition of the last large high-rise estate in the area, the Beaumont Road Estate, began in 2006. It has since been almost completely redeveloped. Indeed, the only remaining 20-storey tower block left in Waltham Forest - from a 1970s peak of 20 across the borough - is the Northwood Tower in Walthamstow.

The Leyton Grange estate, one of the few grey, 1960s-built estates left in Leyton

A typical row of terraced houses on Brewster Road

However, smaller 1960s-built blocks, such the 10-storey Slade Tower in the Leyton Grange estate, still dot the area.

A host of modern apartment buildings have also been built since the late 1990s, notably the flats built at two ends of Leyton Orient Football Club's Brisbane Road stadium.

The majority of homes in the area, however, remain the Victorian and Edwardian terraces built between 1870 and 1910 during Leyton's phase of rapid development from what had been a small village at the beginning of the 1800s. These properties range in size from two- to seven-bedroom houses. As a result, the area is popular with families.

Leyton Orient's future in the heart of Leyton is uncertain. In October 2011, Orient submitted a request to the Football League to move into and become tenants of the London 2012 Olympic Stadium, following complaints over West Ham United being given a 99-year lease of the stadium. Orient claimed that the stadium was too close to their stadium, which they claimed would breach FA rules, and by extension, move the club into bankruptcy. There has also been talk of the club moving into the 15,000 seater Riverbank Arena.

Leyton Cricket Ground. Built in 1886, it was the headquarters of Essex County Cricket Club until 1933.

Leyton also has a cricket pitch and pavilion, which was the former home of Essex County Cricket Club. In 1886, the team purchased Leyton Cricket Ground in the High Road, which became their headquarters until 1933;[1] however, they continued to play at Leyton until 1977. The pavilion (a Grade II listed building[14]) still stands today as part of Leyton Youth Centre.

Leyton borders the Olympic Park for the 2012 Olympic Games.[16] The training facilities at the Waltham Forest Pool & Track were used by Olympians to prepare for the Games.

Also in Leyton is the London Velopark, which has a 6,000-seat indoor velodrome for track cycling and a 6,000-seat outdoor BMX racing track. The Lee Valley Tennis and Hockey centres at Eton Manor are also due to open to the public in late 2013. The London Legacy Development Corporation claims this North Park area, the first section of the Olympic Park to reopen to the public after the 2012 Games, will "be a valuable area of open green space for the neighbouring communities" and "a place for jogging, kickabouts, children’s play and family picnics".

Leyton Orient's Brisbane Road Stadium has also been used as a filming location: for parts of the 1995 football hooligan movie I.D.; for the 2008 terrorist drama Incendiary; and for the 1967 train heist thriller Robbery.

Leyton Fire Station, on Church Road, was used as a filming location for exterior shots of the fictional Blackwall Fire Station in the ITV drama London's Burning, which aired between 1988 and 2002.